Gifts

Q. What got you started in this breed?
A. Ken and I originally showed and bred Border Terriers. They are terrific little dogs but not what you would call "lap dogs" so after several years of showing Borders, I decided I wanted a "bed dog. That's when we got our first Havanese, Klyde (aka Liveoak's Cisco Kid). When the Havanese were recognized by the AKC we began showing our Havs (we had a couple at that time) along with the Borders. Eventually, we found ourselves enjoying the Borders less and less and concentrating more on the Havs. Border Terriers, being terriers, can be quite argumentative and we had difficulties with fighting between the females. Since our dogs are house dogs, trying to keep the Borders separated to avoid fighting was a nightmare. Eventually, we placed all but our first Border, Katie (Ch. Todfield Ticket To Ride) who was the only one I could trust around the Havs.

Q. Are you a commercial breeder?
A. No. Ken and I are retired and breeding and showing our dogs is a hobby.

Q. Where do your puppies live? What is their environment like?
A, As I mentioned before, our dogs are house dogs. We have approximately one acre of fenced yard the dogs can play in but they generally like to stay in the house.

Q. Are you a member of any dog clubs or organization? Are you in good standing?
A. We are members in good standing of the Havanese Club of America. We were also founding members (Ken served as Vice President while I served as Recording/Corresponding Secretary) of the Havanese Club of Southern California, which was the first regional Havanese club. Since moving to North Carolina July 2002, we are members in the Blue Ridge Havanese Club.

Q. How are your dogs housed?
A. As I mentioned before, our dogs are house dogs. We have approximately one acre of fenced yard the dogs can play in but they generally like to stay in the house

Q. What food do you feed your dogs?
A. Our dogs eat Purina Pro Plan dry kibble. Pregnant and nursing mothers and young puppies also eat Pro Plan for Puppies canned mixed with the kibble.

Q. Would you have a problem if I call your vet and verify with them the information you have provided me on your dog's health?
A. You may contact our vet at any time to verify the information we have given you. Our vet is Dr. Stanberry at Mitchell Veterinary Clinic in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. His number is (828) 765-6039.

Q. Do you give your own shots? If yes, what shots will you give?
A. Yes, we vaccinate our dogs ourselves, with the exception of their rabies which, by law, must be given by a veterinarian. We begin their vaccination schedule with a DA2PP shot (Fort Dodge manufactured) at five to six weeks old. This is repeated every three weeks until they leave for their new homes. We do not give, nor recommend giving, a vaccination that contains either Lepto or Corona. These are the two vaccines most reacted to and we do not feel that the chance of them contracting either disease is sufficient to risk the potential reaction. One of our dogs (Renny) had such a severe reaction to a shot once, he went into shock and almost died.

Q. How old are the parents?
A, Havanese are a breed that tends to mature more slowly than some and we do not breed our girls until they are a minimum of two years old and males must be a minimum of one year. Thus far, we have not bred any of our girls past the age of six, though the AKC allows breeding of females until the age of nine for females and eleven for males.

Q. How old must my puppy be before I can get him/her?
A. Puppies are available to their new owners between 10 to 12 weeks of age. By that time, they've interacted with our adult dogs as well becoming accustomed to the usual household noises. Further socialization during their early months is always recommended.

Q. How do you decide which puppy goes to which family?
A. We place our puppies based on five factors:
1) Show potential*
2) Date deposit received
3) Personality
4) Sex
5) Color
The weight that each of the individual factors carries in the placement process is, in part, determined by the prospective owner and the information they give us about themselves and their lifestyles.
*Show homes are given preference

Q. How much do your puppies cost?
A. Companion puppies are $1,600.00 regardless of sex and are placed on a spay/neuter contract. Show males are $1,800.00 and show females are $2,000.00.

Q. Why do you require that companion puppies be spayed or neutered?
A. Ken and I are firm believers that the only reason to breed a litter of dogs is to try and get better...to get closer to the AKC standard for the breed. Even with it's subjectivity, the venue for determining a dog's quality and fitness to breed is the show ring. For that reason, we place our companion pups on limited registration (limited registration means that the dog is registered but no litters produced by that dog are eligible for registration) and I stay on as co-owner of until the Dog is shown to it's championship or it is spayed or neutered. See Sales Contract #4 for exception to this requirement.

Q. I see AKC pups of other breeds advertised in the newspaper everyday and they are not as expensive as Havanese. Why?
A. The rarity of Havanese affects the price to a small extent, but if you were buying any breed, from Bichon Frise to German Shepherd to Cocker Spaniel, it would not be out of line to pay $1,000 or more for a companion quality pup. The difference between spending $500 and $1,000 would be that you would be buying from a real breeder, rather than from a pet store or a "backyard-breeder". By "backyard-breeder", I mean people who have a dog that they bred to have puppies, regardless of what is in the pedigree of the dog, regardless of whether the dog they have is of sufficient quality to breed to pass on it's characteristics, and regardless of possible heath considerations that should be determined prior to deciding whether to breed that dog.

We have had two dogs, both purchased from Finland that we have had to place. We bought the dogs, planning to show and eventually breed them, adding their good qualities to our line. Unfortunately, one was diagnosed with juvenile cataracts at two years of age and another failed her patella exam at one year. Both these dogs were placed in pet homes, free of charge. The reason for that is that our contract with the new owners states that it was understood and agreed that the money they would have normally spent in purchasing a pup would be spent on surgical correction of the dog's problems, should they begin to affect the dog's quality of life.

Now, would a "backyard-breeder" pull two otherwise healthy females from breeding, based on this? No, of course not. Not necessarily because they don't want to lose the money they already invested but more because they wouldn't know the problems existed in the first place. They would not have had the OFA and CERF testing done nor, most likely, would they waited until the female was two years old before breeding. The first time their female came into heat, they'd breed her and start producing puppies to sell. Most bitches come into heat at around 6 months old. Are they capable of producing pups...yes. But a 12 year old girl is also physically capable of producing a child. Does this make it okay? No, of course not. Just as young women should wait for maturity to have children, so should female dogs.

Q. Are deposits refundable?
A. Following is an excerpt from our Deposit Agreement:
1. Refund of this deposit is based on the following schedule:
a. A complete refund of the deposit is due:
i. if the Breeder receives written notice from the Buyer that they no longer wish to purchase a puppy prior to the litter's birth
ii. if the Breeder does not have a puppy meeting the specifications listed under Item #2.
b. A 50% refund of the deposit will be due:
i. if the Breeder receives written notice from the Buyer that they no longer wish to purchase a puppy prior to the litter reaching four weeks of age.
ii. if the Buyer is offered a puppy meeting their specifications as listed in Item #2 and informs the Breeder in writing that they no longer wish to purchase a puppy prior to the litter reaching four weeks of age.
c. A 25% refund of the deposit will be due:
i. if the Breeder receives written notice from the Buyer that they no longer wish to purchase a puppy after the litter reaches four weeks of age.
ii. if the Buyer is offered a puppy meeting their specifications as listed in Item #2 and informs the Breeder in writing that they no longer wish to purchase a after the litter reaches four weeks of age.
Please review Sections 2 and 4 of the Deposit Agreement for complete details.

Q. Before I send you a deposit I would like to have a copy of the CERF on both the Sire and Dam as well as a contract and pedigree. Will you provide these for me?
A. All our dogs are CERFed (Canine Eye Registry Foundation) annually and their CERF history can be verified by checking at the CERF website at http://www.vet.purdue.edu/~yshen/cerf.html. Additionally, we patella check our dogs and post their OFA Patella numbers on our site and they can be verified at the OFA site, http://www.offa.org/. We are having everyone's hip OFAed also. When they go in for a dental or another procedure, we have their hips x-rayed at the same time. We will not have our dogs put under for just the hip x-rays - anytime any animal is put under anesthetic a risk is run that something could go wrong and we attempt to minimize that risk by combining procedures. Additionally, if you would like, I can provide you with a copy of the actual exam paperwork. We also have BAER testing on all of our dogs.

Q. Can you provide references?
A. Please email us and we will provide references.

Q. At what age do you start to socialize your puppies?
A. Puppies are kept separate from the adults until they have received their first vaccination at between five to six weeks old. After that, they are moved into the main part of the house where they are kept in a wire pen that allows visual contact with the adults while still protecting them from being physically overwhelmed. This also begins their introduction to the comings and goings and noises of a normal household. During this time, they have supervised interaction and play with the adult dogs. At the same time and depending upon the weather, they are placed in pens in the yard so they can get some sunshine and watch the others play. When in the yard they are mostly kept confined and this is for a couple reasons. One is that the older dogs can become quite rambunctious when playing in the yard and little pups can literally be overrun. Another reason is that we live in a very rural area and we are always concerned with the potential for losing a pup to a large prey bird (hawks, owls, etc). At around seven weeks old the pups are allowed greater interaction with the adults and eventually work up to periods of unsupervised play.

Q. Would you object to my visiting your home?
A. We encourage visitors and would be happy to have you come. Just give us a call and we'll give you detailed directions.

Q. I live too far to drive to pick up my puppy; do you ship?
A. We have shipped as far away as Alaska, Florida, Georgia, New York and Germany and Finland and have thankfully never had a problem. That doesn't mean it can't happen and we would prefer that new owners come pick their puppies up in person and fly them back in the plane with them, but we also realize that is not always possible. We try to ship only direct flights, even if that means a bit of a drive for either the new owner or us. Doing so helps reduce the chances of something going wrong. Air shipping generally around $175.

Q. When will I get my puppy's papers?
A. The day the puppy leaves for it's new home, we will put it's AKC registration certificate in the mail to you. Prior to that time, we will be sending a New Puppy Book containing photos, pedigree, information on vaccinations, supply list, etc., so you will have time to review it prior to the pup's arrival.

Q. Your contract states that your name will be on as co-owner. Why is that?
A. My name is on the puppy's registration paperwork only until I have received confirmation that it has been spayed/neutered in the case of a companion dog, or has completed it's AKC championship in the case of a show dog. Once that is done, I immediately sign off as co-owner. Sometimes an owner would prefer that their name alone appear on the AKC champion – if that is the case, once the dog has earned 12 or 13 points (enough so that it is pretty certain that the owner will get those few remaining points) I will sign off as co-owner so that the certificate lists only their name. See Sales Contract, Item 4 and 5 for exception to this requirement.

Q. What is the difference between a show potential and a companion pup?
A. Many times dogs that are of show/breeding quality have been neutered and placed in companion homes. Finding good show homes can be difficultit takes time, money, and effort to show a dog. And many times dogs of good quality, dogs that could finish their championship with relative ease, have been placed in companion homes. Many people ask what the difference between a show quality and a companion quality dog is. The answer is, sometimes nothing. Oh, there are those puppies that have a bad bite (overshot or undershot), or whose nose never filled in completely. Those puppies certainly are companion dogs. But more often, puppies with definite show potential are placed in companion homes simply because there are not enough show homes out there. That's not to say that every puppy in a litter is of show potential. There are always puppies in a litter that do not have a disqualifying trait (bad bite, pigment, over or under size, etc); puppies that could show and probably could finish but really aren't what I would term "show potential". Perhaps their tail set is a bit low, perhaps they are a bit leggy, perhaps a touch more muzzle than I would prefer. But those are my preferences, and what I would term a less than pleasing trait another breeder or even a judge might term a very desirable trait. That's what makes dog shows! Everyone's individual interpretation of the AKC standard for the breed. The winner of a dog show is the best dog, based on the judge's interpretation, that day, of that dog, at that moment. The next day could have (and often does) a completely outcome.

Q. What health guarantees do you offer?
A. This puppy is sold with a lifetime guarantee! If at any time, this Dog is to be sold or given away, or should the Buyer determine that they are unable to provide a caring, stable environment for it, the Breeder is to be notified in writing by certified-mail and given first right of refusal. Please read Section 2 in our Sales Contract for details

Q. I'm thinking of trying to show my puppy but I don't want to be locked into it if I find I don't enjoy it.
A. We have people who have never shown before, but express an interest and want to see if it's something they may want to continue with. I understand that completely. Showing is definitely not for everyone. It takes a lot of time, money and energy. But, if the dog is shown until it is awarded it's championship I sign off it's papers and the dog becomes entirely the new owners with no strings attached. The reason for that is that if a person takes the considerable amount of time and energy needed to show a dog to it's championship, it's hoped that somewhere along the way they will have developed an idea of what makes a good dog. What are their dog's strengths and weaknesses. They will have "paid their dues". If, however, they decide that showing is not for them, they have not gained the knowledge necessary to make a successful breeding, one that is geared towards bettering the breed. So, once presented with a spay or neuter certificate from their vet, I sign off the paperwork, again with no strings attached.

Q. I have read that the Havanese may suffer from eye problems. How great is the chance that I will get a puppy that may have problems as it grows?
A. All breeds, purebred and mutts, have the potential for genetic disorders, some having a greater chance of being affected than other breeds. Please go to our website for up-to-date health information for Havanese. As you will see, the total number of affected dogs is low and is declining rapidly. As breeders continue to test their dogs and weed out affected dogs, this number will most likely continue to drop before finally leveling off.

Q. What about other potential health issues such as patella luxation, hip dysplasia, etc?
A. Again, all dogs have the potential for genetic disorders. Some of the most common, and the incidence of them in the Havanese, are listed on on our website at http://www.liveoak-havanese.com/Pages/HealthStats.html